The retired Howard University professor lobbied for teams to play the song in February. Some NBA and collegiate teams played the song at games during Black History Month years ago, thanks to Eugene Williams. “There’s new inspiration and motivation in America today for people of every walk of life, every race, every culture and every orientation,” he said. Markel Hutchins said Biden’s reference to the song and hearing white Americans singing the lyrics has given him “hope and confidence, although we’re in a dark place as a nation today.” The plan proposes to address issues in the black community, including “systemic misconduct” in police departments and prosecutors’ offices. Last month, Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden released the “Lift Every Voice” plan, which is a reference to the song. It’ll be played first when the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs host the Houston Texans to kick off the NFL regular season on Sept. The NFL will play “Lift Every Voice and Sing” before each game during Week 1, a person familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press. Joseph Lowery began his benediction reciting the song’s third verse at the inauguration for President Barack Obama in 2009 and musicians Mike Phillips and West Byrd sprinkled in snippets of the song while playing the national anthem at NASCAR’s 2020 Pocono 350 on Sunday. “It’s much more applicable to the United States as we would love it to be more than the ‘Star-Spangled Banner,’” Young said of the black anthem.Īlong with the protest, the staying power of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” into broader audiences can also be credited to the biggest entertainers and political figures who have referenced it.īeyoncé performed the song in front of a mostly white audience at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in 2018. He believes the Black anthem is a more “powerful and patriotic” song than America’s national anthem, which was written by a slave owner who made a painful reference to slavery in its little-known third stanza. Young has known the song’s lyrics since kindergarten and even recited every word during a recent interview. He said the singing of the song at protests shows how “desegregation of America is really the integration of cultures, ideals, energies and spirituality.” “The song is a refreshment and renewal of my faith,” said Young, the civil rights leader and former Atlanta mayor and U.S.
The same happened in Los Angeles, Chicago, Baltimore and Minneapolis.
Protesters sang the song last month at the historic Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Kennedy was shot in 1963 to march before collectively taking a moment to sing the song. In Dallas, hundreds flocked to the plaza where John F. Protesters are certainly making the song heard. That’s why it’s a great barometer to the cultural shift.” “Very few songs would last through those kinds of changes in Black America. “The fact that this song could survive us going from the back of the bus and the outhouse to the Truman Balcony at the White House, it shows that this song really resonates in our hearts,” he said. Sharpton said the ability of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” enduring several generations speaks volumes. The decision came more than a decade before “The Star-Spangled Banner” was adopted as the national anthem of the U.S.ĭuring the civil rights movement, the song was popular during protests with the likes of “We Shall Overcome” and “Amazing Grace,” which was written by former slave trader John Newton but his song helped define racial equality. The NAACP dubbed “Lift Every Voice and Sing” as the Black national anthem in 1919.
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